doing work!

I'm working very hard on a secret project right now for my niece.  And unfortunately, I can't give details because my step sister reads this occasionally and I don't want to spoil the surprise!

I finished Breaking Bad this morning, and I need a new series to watch while I work.  

And now, one of the best videos on YouTube at this moment.  I cannot stop watching it.  MAGNETS!

Enjoy.

another completed afghan!

I FINALLY finished my second stashbuster blanket early Saturday morning.  According to Ravelry, I started it on December 26, 2010 so clearly I'm the slowest crocheter in the world (or the most easily distracted).  I got rid of 11 skeins of yarn making this project, made 66 hexagons and only had to purchase one to finish the borders.  It's mostly Impeccable Loops & Threads but there's some other stuff thrown in there as well.  The hexagons are from Beyond the Square and I think all 5 different ones are shown in the second picture.

I also finished the Game of Thrones series and, like the loser I am, just started reading book 1 because I have nothing better to do!  

I also explored my garden today.  Because I live in an apartment on the second floor, I can only put container plants on my balcony.  At my mom's, I've planted a bunch of different vegetables that are growing pretty well.  The zucchini, peppers and cucumbers are growing fantastically, and I've got quite a few baby pumpkins! 

Random dead bird next to my zucchini plants.  Now I don't want to eat anymore of them!

I saved a poinsettia plant my mom gave me for Christmas in 2011 and it's growing great, but it's all green.  I'm going to have to figure out when to cover it so it's red by Christmas!!

being reclusive.

It's kind of embarrassing to admit how reclusive I can be when I'm absorbed in a good book or series.  I'll dedicate all of my time to reading until there is no more to read.  Game of Thrones is no exception.  I've finished the first three books in about 2 weeks (that's approximately 2741 pages) and I'm almost 200 pages into the fourth book.  

I've been working on a new blanket...I've got 7 rows finished of the 10 I've been planning although I fear I'll have to make more hexagons to finish.  Here's a teaser pic:

And with that, I'll leave you with my new favorite saying, thank you George R.R. Martin, I'm sure everyone appreciates this:

long time, no posting.

Once again, I am a terrible blogger.  I spent the entire summer trying to be outside as much as possible and as a result, I made next to nothing.  Now that Christmas is coming/it is getting colder, I've started crafting again!


A lot has happened since my last post and I will try and keep it brief:

• I finished my first quilt! (Pics to come soon, it's at my parents house..)
• I started my second quilt (tonight actually!  Using this Moda recipe and am loving it so far)
• I ran my first 10k and registered for the Disney Princess Half Marathon (I also convinced my mom to do the 5k with me!)  I also destroyed my foot doing the 10k and haven't been able to run since, I'm hoping to start again tomorrow.  
• I bought a cyclocross bike and a mountain bike and having begun riding again.
• I continued rock climbing and spent 3 days camping and climbing in the woods of West Virginia.
• I created a really epic pattern for a chalk bucket, made one and will never make it again!
• I've discovered a really horrible allergy to....something.  I have no idea, but I've had hives for the last month and may actually go insane due to the itchyness.

Now I'll give you a visual of some of the items on that list!

Craig and I's mountain bikes!  Mine is the blue, Craig's is the pink.  We don't conform to gender stereotypes :D

Wicked 10k, Virginia Beach right after I finished and right before the downpour!

Start of the race!

Cooper's Rock, WV.  Photo by Joslyn McKenzie.

Cooper's Rock, WV.  Photo by Joslyn McKenzie.

My lovely chalk bucket!  I LOVE this fabric.  I cannot wait to go buy the Christmas print.

Craig's birthday hat.

My Halloween quilt strips.

Strips waiting to be sewn!

Now I'll end my night with the Walking Dead and Water for Elephants (the book, so far I love it!)  I'm going to try and update more frequently from now on!

3/11 hats in 2011!

I finished the flapper hat.  I'm not excited because I don't really like.  I also finished the chalk bag and I love it!  

First the hat...

I really loved this pattern when I first saw it online.  In fact, it's one of the first patterns I favorite'd on Ravelry.  But my yarn choice did not mesh well with the intended design.  I don't know what I'm going to do with it now, maybe my parents can figure out someone who wants it?

Second the chalk bag...

This bag is going to be used!  In fact, I'm going climbing tomorrow and it'll make its debut.  All of the adjustments and picking at the pattern were so worth it.  I'm going to cast on another for Craig soon, I got the yarn he wanted today.  I'm pretty excited for these!

Third the cats...

My cats are little camera hogs.  Well Rivers is, Eli not so much.  Here is a picture of both of them being adorable and after the jump you can see a whole lot of adorable if you should choose to!

Happy week everyone!

chalk bag round two.

I have not been making anything or blogging due to a bad case of bronchitis.  I actually took my first two sick days from work last Wednesday and Thursday and felt ultra guilty.  I went to the doctor on Thursday and was given some steroids to help me breathe, although they haven't really been working at all.  

On a better/side note, I kind of got a promotion at work!  Instead of working at the State Board of Medicine, I've moved to the State Board of Osteopathic Medicine and Podiatry, where I will actually be evaluating doctors and medical students and issuing licenses.  I've moved my desk over and will hopefully begin training next week!  I'll still be doing the work of my old job for some time and I'm hoping this double duty will keep me safe when the Governor lays off his 500 state employees.

Sometime last week, I finished my second (and hopefully the first usable) chalk bag.  I used my first attempt as a model and improved upon it quite a bit to make this second one more durable.  

First, I did more of a rolled edge and crocheted it so it would stay in place, making the thicker edge more even all the way around.  I also spaced out the eyelets much better so they'll be more even!

I added a crocheted loop to the edge for a carabiner instead of what the original pattern suggested, simply because I didn't like that idea.

On my first attempt, there were teeny holes in the bottom created from the decreasing knit stitches, so I crocheted a circle and sewed it into the bottom to help it hold chalk better!

I hope this attempt is actually usable, unlike my last one!  It is in the washing machine felting as I'm typing.

I've also started my third hat of 2011, a flapper hat featured at Rheatheylia!

Have a happy week everyone!

lil flower afghan.

My step sister is having a baby sometime in the next several months so Mom asked me to make her a blanket in the colors Meghan picked out for the baby's room.  I didn't want to make another star afghan so I thought I'd try out granny squares.  This is the first project that I've actually fully completed, joined the squares and added a border.  I'm impressed hah.

The squares without flowers are from the Happy Hooker's Lil Monkey Afghan.  The squares with flowers are my edited version of motif #114 in Beyond The Square.  It turned out pretty great and I'm very happy with it.  Yarn info and all that jazz are on Ravelry.  Here are some pics...

I'm still working on hexagons for my stashbuster!  I am almost halfway done.  I took a break this weekend and joined a row together instead of making more.  Here's a little teaser picture of what is going on so far:

Hopefully in another month or so it'll be done.  It is going to be MASSIVE and awesome.  I'm excited.  Anyways, happy week everyone!

i'm still alive!

Kind of.  I don't feel very well and am desperately trying to get better so I can go to Philadelphia for NYE. I don't have any finished projects, but I have two WIPs to show off!

Firstly is a baby blanket for my step sister who is expecting a little girl sometime early next year.  I used the squares from the Lil' Monkey Afghan in the Happy Hooker but adapted the pattern to how I wanted the entire thing to look.  The problem is, I've run out of my white yarn with only TWO sides to go until the end!  I hate when that happens.  So I'm saving a finished product picture until it really is finished, and I'll just show some pictures of squares! 

 

The second project is yet another blanket, this time a stashbuster!  These are my favorite kinds of blankets, they turn out amazing.  

This is the first stashbuster I made, earlier this year.  I finished approximately 21 different skeins of yarn making it!  It's a little larger than my bed which is full sized.  There is some fun fur, some sequins, some wool, and some crazy stuff that I don't really remember in that blanket.  The large granny square worked well because of the different yarn weights.

Now my stash is all similarly weighted, so I'm going to do a hexagonal motif stashbuster, using 5 different motifs from Beyond the Square!  It is going to take forever, but hopefully it'll be worth it.  Here's progress...

Pretty soon, I'll have a big post to show off my spinning, I've gotten 3 good sized skeins so far on my drop spindle and have two sets of roving dyed to try out when I get my wheel! Gah I'm so excited.

new things.

I haven't posted in forever, mainly because I just completed my first week as a government employee and I'm still figuring out how to work, get enough sleep, go to the gym, and still be able to craft things.  It's a tough process.

However here are some finished Christmas presents!

Two hoops, one for my grandfather and his wife, and one for my grandmother.

leonidas the lion!

Meet Leonidas the Lion! He's a crafty little lion that, right now, is exceptionally fond of his seat of honor on top of my dresser.

I added up the amount of time it took to make him today (a friend had asked me) and I'd say 35 hours maximum. Aka enough time that, if my friend doesn't appreciate Leonidas, I'm going to kick him in the shins and keep him to myself!

I really would recommend Delicious Crochet patterns to anyone that enjoys making ridiculously cute things! The patterns are very in depth and include many pictures to guide you along. So go get some!

I've started my dinosaur as well!

Rawr! :D

christmas crafting

I have been on a ROLL when it comes to Christmas crafting. And by that I mean the one project I'm working on, well it's going much quicker than I had expected.

Now the things I have left to do are as follows NOTHING!:

• Finish Leonidas the Lion
• Finish embroidering the money cat and finish the hoop nicely
• Embroider another money cat on different fabric and possibly paint it
• Embroider a hoop for my grandmother (design has yet to be picked out)
• Crochet a T-Rex

Not toooo bad considering I have a whole month to do it!

I spent this weekend sick, and learning to spin.

These are the first skeins I've done:

Some more dyeing was done as well! (This spun into the more green of the two skeins pictured above)...

That's pretty much all I have right now. Here's progress on Leonidas...I really hope the person he's for doesn't look at this post!

I just purchased another pattern from Delicious Crochet, this time the T-Rex pattern. After working through Leonidas, I'm excited to start on this new one!